Local 105, Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA or Union) filed a request for
assistance with the Federal Service Impasses Panel (Panel) to consider a
negotiation impasse under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations
Statute, 5 U.S.C. § 7119, between it and the Department of Veterans Affairs,
Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Employer).

Following an investigation of the request for assistance, which involved
negotiations over a successor collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the Panel
directed the parties to participate in an informal conference with Executive
Director H. Joseph Schimansky for the purpose of resolving the outstanding
issues. The parties were advised that if no settlement were reached, Mr.
Schimansky would report to the Panel on the status of the dispute, including the
parties’ final offers and his recommendations for resolving the issues. After
considering the report, the Panel would take whatever action it deemed
appropriate to resolve the impasse, including the issuance of a binding
decision.

Pursuant to the Panel’s determination, the parties met with Mr. Schimansky
on July 21, 1999. They were able to resolve an issue involving staff
adjustments, but failed to reach a voluntary settlement of their second issue
concerning official time for representational purposes. The parties each
submitted their final offers and supporting statements. Mr. Schimansky has
reported to the Panel, and it has now considered the entire record.(1)

BACKGROUND

The Employer’s mission is to provide hospital, nursing home, domiciliary,
outpatient, and psychiatric care to veterans and their dependents. The Union
represents approximately 226 "Title 38" registered nurses (RNs),
including registered nurse anesthetists and nurse practitioners. The parties’
CBA was due to expire on January 17, 1998, but its terms continue in effect.

ISSUE AT IMPASSE

The parties essentially disagree over the amount of pre-approved time the
Union should receive to conduct representational duties on behalf of the
bargaining unit.

POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES

1. The Union’s Position

The Union proposes the following wording:

KNA Local 105 will receive 1.0 FTE plus "reasonable and
customary" time. The 1.0 FTE will be divided in any way that the
parties agree, provided the unit president receives not less than .5 FTE. If
agreement cannot be reached, the Union will designate two people in addition
to the president who will receive .25 FTE.

The parties’ current practice, whereby the Union’s president is granted
official time of .5 FTE, and all of its other representatives receive reasonable
time, is inadequate to meet the Union’s "legal and fiduciary"
responsibilities to the bargaining unit. In this regard, "it is the nurses’
legal and ethical responsibility to put the patient first." Unfortunately,
the current practice "leaves nurse leadership in a precarious position when
patient needs fluctuate," and prevents the Union from "establishing
consistent leadership roles and mechanisms for handling representational
duties." It also "compromises" the Union’s ability "to
maintain an organizational structure that is accessible to the nurses who
require representation."

Other than the Union president, "every other [representative] is awarded
official time arbitrarily by their supervisors." In some cases, this
results in a significant amount of representational work being done on personal
time. Given the incompleteness of the current official time tracking system, the
Employer "cannot establish" that the Union "has no need for more
official time." Moreover, the Union has a proven track record of resolving
conflict informally. Therefore, it would be unfair to hold the Union’s lack of
grievance and unfair labor practice charge filings against it in determining
whether changes in current official time practices are necessary. Finally, the
adoption of its proposal also is justified on the basis of the parties’
bargaining history because the Union has been willing to compromise from its
initial position, while the Employer has not.

2. The Employer’s Position

The Employer’s proposal is as follows:

The Association President will be afforded 50-percent official time during
his/her tour of duty for the purpose of representational duties and all
activities inclusive of grievance matters, arbitration, committee meetings,
inspections, etc. All other Union officials will be afforded a reasonable amount
of time, as follows: A KNA representative, before leaving their work site to
transact permissible KNA representational duties, contacts the immediate
supervisor. Normally arrangements for a KNA representative to leave the unit
will be made in advance. The supervisor will assess staffing and workload to
determine whether the KNA representative can be released at the requested time.
If the KNA representative cannot be released at the requested time a mutually
agreeable alternative time will be arranged by the supervisor and the
representative.

Continuation of the current practice, which is reflected in the Employer’s
proposal, is appropriate given the size of the bargaining unit, and the
complexity and amount of the Union’s representational activity. This is
supported by the fact that "there have been few if any conflicts
surrounding official time usage." While management "appreciates"
the Union’s efforts in resolving many issues informally, and "in no
way" suggests that it be penalized for doing so, the Employer’s overall
review of the matter leads it to conclude that additional amounts of official
time are unwarranted.